New technique provides insight into how DNA conforms to microarray surfaces
A team of researchers from Boston University has developed a new application to enable more precise measurement of the location of a fluorescent label in a DNA layer. According to their study, published in a recent issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the new technique provides insight into the shape of DNA molecules attached to a surface, such as microarrays used in genomics research
The proliferation of patents in the emerging stem cell field may impede scientists from developing new treatments, says Merrill Goozner of the Center for Science in the Public Interest in the open access journal PLoS Medicine.
Patent restrictions on the use of stem cells, says Goozner, can discourage researchers from pursuing a particular line of inquiry and can slow the pace of research.
Funders of stem cell research, such as the newly created California Institute fo
As much as neuroscientists know about the neural processes that signal touch, surprisingly little is understood about the neural correlates of conscious perception of tactile sensations. In a new study in the open-access journal PLoS Biology, Felix Blankenburg, Jon Driver, and their colleagues turn to a classic somatosensory illusion—called the cutaneous rabbit—that is perfectly suited to decoupling real and illusory touch. In the illusion, a rapid succession of taps is delivered first to the wris
Since its introduction to the United States in 1999, West Nile virus has become the major vector-borne disease in the U.S., with 770 reported deaths, 20,000 reported illnesses, and perhaps around a million people infected. The virus is transmitted by Culex mosquitoes (the “vector”) and cycles between birds that the mosquitoes feed on. Humans can also be infected with the virus when bitten by these mosquitoes.
Scientists have struggled to explain these large outbreaks in the U.S.,
Genetically controllable self-destruction of cells or apoptosis (originating from the Greek “apoptosis” – defoliation) – is one of important processes in animate nature. Surprising transformations of embryos as they grow, development and disappearance of organs and tissues – all these are apoptosis’ work. It can protect from disease or cancer or it can mutilate and kill, for example, in case of infarct or autoimmune diseases when a lot of cells perish at once.
Biochemists from the Scienti
Dr. Lizi Wu (Dana Farber Cancer Institute) and colleagues report on a critical role for one of the three mammalian mastermind genes (Maml1) in myogenesis – assigning that first biological function to the mammalian MAML Notch co-activators.
“Our study uncovered an exciting and essential regulatory role for Maml1 in muscle development,” says Wu.
Dr. Wu and colleagues generated MAML1-deficient mice, which displayed severe muscular dystrophy. The researchers showed that the
Elusive smad dephosphorylase identified
In the March 15th issue of G&D, Dr. Lan Xu and colleagues (UMASS Medical School) identify the long sought-after phosphatase for Smad in the BMP signal transduction pathway.
In organisms as diverse as worms, fruit flies and humans, the Smad family of intracellular messenger proteins are activated upon phosphorylation by TGFbeta and BMP signaling pathways. Dr. Xu’s new paper now reveals the elusive Smad phosphatase in the BMP path
The failure of programming that sparks the death of dendritic cells – those that activate the immune system – can initiate autoimmune disease, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears in the current issue of the journal Science.
The problem begins with a process called programmed cell death or apoptosis, said Dr. Jin Wang, assistant professor of immunology at Baylor College of Medicine. Mice bred to have a defect in apoptosis of their dendritic cells we
Recent research on the genetics of smoking has focused on genes that are thought to be related to nicotine metabolism, personality traits, and regulation of emotions. According to a genetic study just published in “Nicotine and Tobacco Research,” genes responsible for taste also may yield important information about who smokes and why they smoke.
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Utah wanted to determine if a “bitterness” gene-phenylthiocarbamide (PT
UCSF and Cleveland Clinic scientists have discovered a new virus in human prostate tumors. The type of virus, closely related to viruses typically found in mice, has never been detected in humans. The virus’s link to human disease is still unclear, and more study is needed to determine the relationship between the virus and cancer, if any, the scientists say.
The discovery was made with the same DNA-hunting “virus chip” used to confirm the identity of the SARS virus three y
The southern house mosquito, found everywhere in the tropics and subtropics, is actually composed of genetically different strains, according to a team of researchers led by a scientist from The Academy of Natural Sciences.
This research helps medical entomologists and doctors understand why certain infectious diseases occur in parts of the world but not in others depending on the presence of the disease-transmitting mosquito strains.
In a paper published in the Febru
A team of researchers from the University of Alberta, the Yerkes National Primate Research Center of Emory University and the Emory Transplant Center has successfully transplanted insulin-producing neonatal porcine islet cells into monkeys, a procedure the researchers say represents a promising intermediate solution to the critical supply problem in clinical islet cell transplantation.
“Our work at the U of A and Emory, along with recent work at the University of Minnesota, is very exciti
Gold compounds have been used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases for more than 75 years, but until now, how the metals work has been a mystery. Harvard Medical School researchers report in the Feb. 27 issue of Nature Chemical Biology that special forms of gold, platinum, and other classes of medicinal metals work by stripping bacteria and virus particles from the grasp of a key immune system protein.
“We were searching for a new drug to treat autoimmun
Researchers in Argentina have determined that night blindness is a new clinical symptom of Chagas disease. A team led by Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) international research scholar Mariano Jorge Levin and Cristina Paveto of the Institute for Genetic Engineering and Molecular Biology (INGEBI), National Research Council, National Council of Scientific Research and Technology in Buenos Aires, found that the immune system of individuals with the tropical disease can shut down a key reaction
Unlovable lamprey holds clues to skeletal evolution
University of Florida scientists have found that people have an ancient skeleton in their closets – a skeleton personified today by a jawless, eel-like fish. It turns out lampreys, long thought to have taken a different evolutionary road than almost all other backboned animals, may not be so different after all, especially in terms of the genetics that govern their skeletal development, according to findings to be published o
Bacteria could help transform a key component of disposable cups, plates and utensils into a useful eco-friendly plastic, significantly reducing the environmental impact of this ubiquitous, but difficult-to-recycle waste stream, according to a study scheduled to appear in the April 1 issue of the American Chemical Society journal, Environmental Science & Technology.
The microbes, a special strain of the soil bacterium Pseudomonas putida, converted polystyrene foam — commonly known as S
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